Ū'ni-ty, n.
n. [Fr. unité, Pr. unitat, Sp. unidad, Pg. unidade, It. unità, Lat. unitas, from unus, one.]
Sense 1. The state of being one; oneness.
A spiritual unity binds together every member of the human family. Bancroft.
☞ Unity is affirmed of a simple substance or indivisible monad, or of several particles or parts so intimately and closely united as to constitute a separate body or thing. See UNION.
Sense 2. Concord; conjunction; agreement; uniformity; as, a unity of proofs; unity of doctrine; unity of worship in a church.
How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Ps. cxxxiii. 1.
Sense 3. (Math.) Any definite quantity, or aggregate of quantities or magnitudes, taken as one, or for which 1 is made to stand in calculation; thus, in a table of natural sines, the radius of the circle is regarded as unity.
☞ The number 1, when it is not applied to any particular thing, is generally called unity.
Sense 4. (Poet. & Rhet.) One of the principles by which a uniform tenor of story and propriety of representation are preserved; conformity in a composition to these principles; a reference to some one purpose or leading idea, in all the parts of a discourse or composition.
☞ In the Greek drama, the three unities required were those of action, of time, and of place; in other words, that there should be but one main plot; that the time supposed should not exceed twenty-four hours; and that the place of the action before the spectators should be one and the same throughout the piece.
Sense 5. (Fine Arts & Mus.) Such a combination of parts as to constitute a whole, or a kind of symmetry of style and character.
Sense 6. (Law.) The peculiar characteristics of an estate held by several, or joint-tenancy.
☞ The properties of it are derived from its unity, which is fourfold: unity of interest, unity of title, unity of time, and unity of possession; in other words, joint-tenants have one and the same interest, accruing by one and the same conveyance, commencing at the same time, and held by one and the same undivided possession. Unity of possession is also a joint possession of two rights in the same thing by several titles, as when a man, having a lease of land, afterward buys the fee-simple, or, having an easement in the land of another, buys the servient estate.
Synonyms—Union; oneness; junction; concord; harmony. See UNION.